So far this school year, there have been almost 500 dress code violations, said Diane Boyett, VISD communications director.

VISD adopted a new standardized dress code in 2010 when the new high schools opened.

The intention was to make the process fairer for students, said Tami Keeling, VISD school board president.

"Part of the reason we designed a simple dress code was that the old dress code contained too much subjectivity," Keeling said. "Part of the problem in the past has been that the rules were unclear, and because they were unclear, students felt they were unfair."